The Gig is Up: Cloud Labour Night

The 'Cloud Labour Night' looks behind the shiny surface of platform capitalism produced by Silicon Valley’s powerful ideology machines and their local offshoots. What’s the cost of the gig economy’s promised flexibility, and who’s paying it?

27

Oct 2016

20:00 to
23:30

A gig used to mean a
show played by musicians. Today, the word is newspeak for a freelance job,
short-term contract or limited professional engagement of any kind. Digital
platforms such as Fiverr provide the infrastructure for the so-called
gig economy, a new kind of marketplace where every conceivable “gig” can be
outsourced to the perfect “player.” Companies can easily find the perfect match
for a job that needs doing, the story goes, and “giggers” can focus on what they’re
really passionate about while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This
isn’t just win-win; it’s a veritable revolution, giving “workers everywhere
something to celebrate once again” (Micha Kaufman, CEO Fiverr).

The Gig Is Up calls the bluff of the gig economy’s
cloud-cuckoo-land. At this CloudLabour Night,
we’ll look behind the shiny surface of platform capitalism produced by Silicon
Valley’s powerful ideology machines and their local offshoots. What’s the cost
of the gig economy’s promised flexibility, and who’s paying it? Are passion and
creativity the true drivers of the gig economy? Or are platforms and clouds
leading us back to the future of a feudalist system where the only thing
workers might be able to celebrate is the right to be maximally exploited?*

The event starts at
20:00h (walk in from 19:30h) and lasts until 22:00h. After the event the bar will stay open until 23:30h, The entrance fee is €7,50,- (this includes one free
drink). Payment at the door by cash or pin.

* the graphics and text of this event have been compiled by a cloud worker based on materials provided by the curatorial team.